Finding Abby: A Romantic Suspense set in the Colorado Mountains (Whispering Pines Mysteries)

by Rhonda Blackhurst

  “So John wasn’t too thrilled about it.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Abby murmured.

  “Can’t really blame the guy. That had to be a big shock.”

  “Not if he had taken the time to know and understand Henry.”

  “Still …”

  “I think we’re going to go. There’s nothing really keeping us here. It might be a good change for us.”

  “So what made you decide all of a sudden? And what does Cooper think?”

  “I haven’t told him yet.”

  “Don’t you think that’s a pretty big deal to just up and decide without getting his input? This will affect him, too.”

  “I know.” She stifled a groan and let her headrest against the headboard. She squeezed her eyes shut, pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing she wouldn’t have called. She wanted support and validation for her decision, not skepticism and guilt. She could do that well enough on her own. “Now that Hunter is out of prison, it wouldn’t take much for him to find us. I’m doing this for Cooper more than anything else.”

  “Don’t expect him to see it that way.”

  Abby sighed. “I shouldn’t have called. I hoped you’d be a little more supportive, not act like I’m committing a cardinal sin.” She heard more shuffling on the other end of the line and Piper’s long sigh.

  “I’m not trying to be unsupportive. I just want you to understand the ramifications this could have on Cooper.”

  “Not moving could have much bigger ramifications on him. If Hunter finds us …” she trailed off.

  “I know, honey. You’re right in the middle of a tough spot. Between a rock and a hard place as Dad would say.”

  “Speaking of Dad, maybe he’d want to move there with me and Coop. He doesn’t have any ties in Washington except you.”

  “And his memories of Mom.”

  “But that’s the beauty of memories. You can pack them up and take them with wherever you go. ’Course, it’s also a curse,” she muttered. Hard as she tried, she hadn’t been able to escape her memories of Hunter and the night he almost killed her. “Besides, it might be good for him to have a change of scenery.”

  “Good point. Mom dying did a number on him. Not that I would have expected anything else as close as they had always been. But he’s drinking now more than ever. Five years have gone by and he seems to be drinking more to escape the pain, not less.”

  “Even more reason to get him out of there. If he’s off in the mountains somewhere with us and I don’t have any alcohol in the house, it’s not like he can just jump in the car and run up to the store at the drop of a hat and get some.”

  “How long have you been up thinking about all this?”

  Abby chortled. “Nearly all night.”

  “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Abby could almost see Piper rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Why don’t you give it at least another day and sleep on it tonight before you just decide to uproot everything you know to move clear across the country,” Piper said.

  “California to Colorado is hardly clear across the country, Piper. Besides, it’s all I’ve been thinking about since the door closed behind John when he left here delivering the bomb at my kitchen table.”

  “So what made you decide? What was the ultimate deciding factor?”

  “There isn’t just one thing.”

  “Have you been getting more messages?”

  “A couple of text messages.”

  “From a number you recognize?”

  “If I recognized the number, Piper, I wouldn’t be worried now, would I?”

  “No need to get snippy.”

  “I’m just saying … Piper, every minute Cooper is out of my sight during the school day I’m worried sick about him.”

  “Maybe you should tell him his dad is out of prison so he can be on the lookout. He’s old enough to know.”

  “He’s too young to have to live his life in fear.”

  “But old enough to be vigilant of what’s going on around him. You wouldn’t need to phrase it in a way that scares him out of his wits. He’s not stupid, Abs. He’s going to figure it out. Besides …”

  “Besides what?” It irked her when Piper did that. “This isn’t a good time to start one of your thoughts and not finish.”

  “How do you know … well, how do you know Hunter hasn’t contacted Cooper? If he’s the one sending you the messages, maybe he’s sent Cooper some as well.”

  Abby shivered. “Thanks for that. As if I wasn’t worried enough.”

  “You’re the one who told me to finish my thought.”

  “I’ll think twice about that next time,” Abby muttered. “If that’s a possibility, Hunter calling or texting Cooper, it’s all the more reason to move.”

  “Yeah, because moving would stop that from happening.” The sarcastic edge to her voice grated on Abby’s nerves. “You could just ask Cooper and find out before you make assumptions.”

  Abby sighed again and laid her head against the headboard once again.

  “I want my son to have the life you and I had as kids. I want him to catch bugs and start leaf collections. I want him to build terrariums, pick milkweed and run barefoot through the yard in the summertime. I want him to sit on the front steps eating watermelon, the sticky juice running down his arms, having seed spitting contests with you and me. To run down the street to play with friends. I mean, he plays with friends now, but it seems different somehow.”

  “For him or for you?”

  Abby groaned. “For me. But if I tell him about Hunter being out of prison, it’s going to turn his life upside down. He’s going to be looking over his shoulder and in suspicion at every car passing by on the street instead of looking for mischief to get into.”

  “Honey, the reins you hold on that kid are so tight right now he can’t get into mischief even if he wanted to.”

  “If I tell him, I’m robbing him of his childhood. If I don’t tell him, it’s putting him in danger.” She struggled to slow her racing heart, taking slow deep breaths, the natural way to tame her anxiety and panic attacks instead of the medication her doctor had prescribed. “We have to do this Piper. Please understand.” She waited for her sister to say something. Anything. “Besides, it’s a great opportunity to take my turn at caring for Dad and give you a break.”

  “Dad isn’t a child, Abby.”

  “No, but he’s a handful, you have to admit that. Especially with his drinking.”

  “Yeah. But even if we decide that’s what will happen, it’s not like we can force a grown man to do something he doesn’t want to do. It’s not like he’s senile and incapable of making a decision. Quite the opposite.”

  “There’s only one way to find out if he’ll agree to it, isn’t there?”

  “Want me to bring it up with him?”

  “If you want to. But regardless, I’ll call him later on today.”

  “You’ll give him the courtesy of letting him wake up first before you drop the rock on his head. Maybe next time you’ll give me the same courtesy.”

  “I’ll think about it, but probably not.”

  “I’ll remember that. And Abby?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Just ask Cooper about his jerk of a dad and save yourself a lot of what ifs.”

  A New Beginning

  5

  Abby looked over at Cooper. He had propped a pillow against the window of the car door and was leaning against it, fighting sleep. She watched as he dozed off. A moment later, she looked again and saw the pillow sliding against the window until his chin almost touched his chest. He jerked and sat straight up. He looked at Abby, his eyelids heavy.

  “Are we almost there, Mom?”

  “Put your seat back so you can sleep without getting a kink in your neck, honey.” She reached over and touched his shoulder.

  “Are we almost there?” he repeated.

  “Not yet. A few more hours.”

  He twisted around to look behi
nd them, and Abby looked in the rear view mirror at the headlights a few car lengths behind them.

  “Why is Grandpa staying so far behind us?”

  Yes, why indeed? Abby felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach.

  “Mom, slow down,” Cooper said as he kept his eyes on the U-Haul. “Grandpa’s gonna lose us.”

  If he’s drinking, he could only hope so by the time I’m done with him. Abby raised her eyes to look in the rearview mirror again, noticing the headlights get further behind her. Now there wasn’t just two cars between them but three.

  “Should I call him, Mom?” He had his cell phone out, ready to punch in Jeremiah’s number.

  “No. He shouldn’t be talking on the phone when he needs to focus on driving.”

  Abby slowed down to allow two of the cars between them to pass. She glanced at Cooper who alternated watching his grandfather through the back window and his side mirror. She wondered if she was doing the right thing by bringing her father with them to Colorado. Did she really want Cooper exposed twenty-four-seven to his grandfather’s love of the bottle? While it wasn’t the environment she would ever choose for him, maybe she could turn it into a teaching moment. Make something good from something bad. Lemonade from lemons.

  “I hafta pee, Mom.”

  “Good timing.” She pointed to a blue and white sign approaching on the right-hand side of the freeway. “Rest stop five miles. We could probably all use a chance to stretch, huh, buddy?”

  When they reached the exit, Abby watched her rearview mirror closely, making sure her father was paying attention and followed them onto the exit. She exhaled with relief when she saw the U-Haul follow, pulling up alongside her in the parking lot.

  “Go on in, Coop. I’ll be right there.”

  “Shouldn’t I wait for Grandpa?”

  “I’ll wait. Go on ahead.” She realized the irony that she felt safer letting Cooper out of her sight at a rest stop where they didn’t know anyone than she did back home in Oakland where they knew people. A place they could too easily be found.

  Abby waited for the door of the U-Haul to open. Her father fumbled around with something before he jumped down, shut the door, and walked around to the front.

  “What?”

  “What do you mean, what?” she asked.

  “Why are you staring at me?”

  “Have you been drinking, Pops?”

  “Well, hello to you, too.”

  She caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes before he put his head down and walked around her. Guilt washed over her when she realized she’d hurt his feelings. She caught up to him and took hold of his arm, turning him gently toward her. “I’m sorry, Dad. It’s just that—” Her eyes glinted with anger as she stood in front of him. “You lied to me?”

  “I didn’t lie.” He looked away from her and began walking again.

  “Yes, you did.” She kept pace with him, trying to stop him from walking any further. “I asked if you’d been drinking. I can smell it on you.”

  “And I never said I wasn’t, did I?” He stopped and looked at her, tortured eyes ripping out her heart. “You have Cooper to keep you company. I’ve got no one.”

  “He could ride with you if I could trust you not to drink. But obviously, I can’t.”

  “I wouldn’t if he was with—”

  “It’s too late. You already have been.” She sighed and looked off into the distance as she ran a hand over the top of her head, smoothing her hair, the other hand on her hip. “I was hoping to get there by eleven, midnight at the latest, and it’s a good three hours left. We’ll never make it.”

  “I’m fine to drive.”

  “No. No, you’re not, Pops. I think we’ll stay here and walk around awhile. What do you say? A walk would do all of us good anyway. We’ve been on the road for a long time.”

  She turned to face the door of the building Cooper had gone into. She didn’t know what she was trying to escape from more, Cooper seeing what was going on or her father seeing her eyes that held nothing but pity for him at the moment. He was a proud man and didn’t take kindly to pity. But pitiful was the only thing she saw in him right now. He was just a shell of the man he used to be once upon a time not so long ago. She only hoped he would get back to that man, the father he used to be. The one who possessed the creativity she’d inherited. He’d been a heck of a writer back in the day during the early years of his marriage to her mother. Not terribly financially successful, but darn good at the craft. It was something he did because he loved it, not because he had to pay the bills with what he made from it. But when her mother died, his love of writing did, too. As far as she knew, he hadn’t written a creative word since she got sick.

  The two stood in silence until Cooper came back out and the three of them fell into step alongside one another, Abby in her flip-flops that she wore pretty much year round. Cooper carried his skateboard until they reached a point where he put his board down and skated off in front of Abby and Jeremiah.

  “When’s the last time you wrote something, Dad?”

  “Wrote a letter to your mom last week.”

  She caught the slight odor of whiskey. Her stomach turned. “You still write to her?”

  “Yup.”

  “What do you do with the letters after you’ve written them?”

  “Put ’em in a box in the closet.”

  “Can I read them sometime?” She looked at him watching Cooper up ahead, one side of his mouth turning upward in a small smile.

  “He’s good. Real good.” His voice was quiet and sad. “When I’m dead and gone you can read all you want. I won’t be around to tell you that you can’t.”

  “Don’t talk like that. You’re not going anywhere.”

  “Someday I am. And ya know what, kid? I’m okay with that. I’m not afraid of dying anymore.”

  Abby didn’t trust herself to say anything. She kept her attention on Cooper doing his little tricks with his skateboard under the glowing streetlights as evening dusk settled upon them. “Yes, he is good, Dad. He’s a good boy.”

  “I meant on the skateboard.”

  “I know what you meant.”

  They reached a picnic table that sat under a utility light, the dirty glass globe over the florescent bulb casting a dim glow. Abby took a seat on one side of the table, her father on the other side

  “We’re gonna have fun running the resort, Pops. Just you wait and see. It’ll be good for all of us. We’ll even get Piper to come stay. Heck, maybe she’ll even move there with us.”

  “Huh,” he snorted. “Don’t count on it.”

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  Abby smiled to herself. She knew there was no way Piper would leave her circle of friends. Not that she particularly liked city life, but she gave the term “social butterfly” a whole new meaning. Heck, Abby wasn’t even sure she and her friends went to the bathroom without one of them tagging along. Exactly the stuff Abby disliked and never understood even back in high school. The only thing both she and Piper had in common were they both had a guy as their best friend as far back as she could remember. Except for Abby’s best friend, Connor, disappeared shortly after Hunter came into the picture. Piper and her best friend, Randy, were still inseparable. It’s probably why they were both still single. She couldn’t imagine anyone putting up with that. She also couldn’t imagine why they didn’t just be together.

  Her cell phone buzzed from an incoming message. She casually looked at the display, expecting to see a message from Piper or Holly. What’s yours is mine. I’m coming to claim what’s mine. The air surrounding her closed in until she thought she would suffocate. This time, not only was the number not one she recognized, it was blocked. She took a big gulp of night air and shivered, a chill cutting through her to the bone. With as much casualness as she could muster, she glanced around her in all directions.

  “What is it, kiddo?” Jeremiah’s soft voice cut through the air.

  “Coop!” she called, stood up
, and waved her arm at him, motioning him over.

  “Come on, Dad. It’s time to hit the road.” She turned to face him. “Give me the bottle.”

  “What bottle?”

  “Now’s not the time for this, Pops.” Her gaze held his, at the same time keeping an eye on Cooper as he sauntered over toward them, his skateboard tucked under his arm. “Give me the bottle.”

  “It’s gone.”

  “Bull.” Her tone was steady, daring him to defy her. “Don’t make me treat you like a two-year-old.”

  “Fine.” He sighed, and turned toward the truck and walked up ahead of her as she waited for Cooper to catch up.

  “Where’s Grandpa going?”

  “He has to get something for me from the truck.”

  “What is it?”

  “Nunya.” She used his own term that when she once asked him what it meant, he had repeated, Nunya. As in none of your business.

  “Why is it okay for you to say that when I got in trouble for it?”

  “It’s not. But I’m the mom and you can’t punish me.” Abby smiled and ruffled his hair as he jerked his head away.

  “Not fair,” he grumbled.

  “Nope. S’pose not.”

  “I don’t see why I couldn’t go over to Tommy’s house to skateboard before we left.” His grumbling continued.

  “The last time you went to Tommy’s you were out roaming the streets when you were supposed to be at his house.”

  “Mom,” he scoffed, “it’s not like we went anywhere. We stayed right in front of his house.”

  “Something could have happened.”

  “It didn’t. You need to let me go a little bit.”

  “It sounds like you’ve been talking with your Aunt Piper.”

  He kicked a bottle cap into the parking lot and she watched as it rolled on its edge until it finally lay down. “So what’s the real reason I couldn’t go to Tommy’s?”

  “Who’s the parent here, me or you? I don’t have to explain my decisions to you, Cooper.” She knew she wasn’t being fair in not giving him a reasonable explanation. But how did she tell him it was because she’d been getting disturbing messages she was sure were from his dad. She didn’t want to put him in the middle of his father’s madness. She sighed as they reached the parking lot. “I need you to trust me on this.” She looked at him and the scowl he sported. “Please.”